1839.] Mission to the Court of Siam. 1035 



plundered the village near our last halting ; the old Myotsa came after 

 sunset with an invitation for me to stay here two or three days ; I was 

 however told he only wanted the credit at Bankok of having been 

 civil to me, I accordingly, which I should however have done under 

 any circumstances, declined remaining, and pressed him again about 

 the convicts ; he repeated his promise to send them to Camboorie. 



January 19th. — Bang-tee, 4h. 6m., twelve miles. Having start- 

 ed the boat with the tindal, and some of the heavy presents, and 

 discharged the hired elephant, left our halting place at 9 a. m., and 

 at the top of the bank passed the village of May-nam-noi, consisting 

 of four miserable bamboo houses, that of the Myotsa not to be distin- 

 guished from the others, and surrounded by the remains of the old 

 stockade, which has not been repaired for many years ; proceeding not 

 far from the side of the river, through a bamboo jungle and over bro- 

 ken ground, passed a small Kareen village at 9h. 35m., and at Uh. 15m. 

 cross the river (now named May-nam-noi) running here N. 20° E. on 

 a sand bank in the middle of it ; after crossing the river saw a few 

 teak trees, the first on this side of the hills, and had a glimpse of a herd 

 of twenty or thirty wild buffaloes, noble looking animals; at lh. 40m. 

 halted here in a thick jungle, surrounded by hills, on a small brook, 

 which passes through a ravine to join the May-nam-noi ; path has been 

 good all day, particularly in the teak forest ; gave the old Myotsa who 

 has been exceedingly civil, a small carpet at starting this morning. 



January 20th. — Weing-wee, 4h. 10m., nine miles. Started at 8h. 

 20m. and march for an hour over broken irregular ground, surrounded 

 by hills which frequently approach so close as to form rugged ravines ; 

 we then came on the bank of a small stream, or rather a chain of 

 lagoons, where we waited an hour for the elephants to tread down the 

 strong reeds, of twenty or thirty feet high, with which the narrow 

 ravine is filled to the foot of the abrupt, broken stony hills, to enable 

 us to pass ; this continued till noon, where again, after a short ascent, 

 we came amongst the stony ravines and narrow valleys of the lime- 

 stone hills; at lh. 30m. came to a small clearing, and at 2h. halted hen? 

 near a deserted Kareen village ; the family only removed a few yards, 

 and built a sand pagoda three feet high to propitiate the Nats, having 

 been frightened away by the very ominous circumstance of some mush- 

 rooms sprouting up in the fire place. The path to-day has been the 

 worst we have travelled, which is accounted for by the people from 

 all the communication between Bankok and May-nam-noi being 

 carried on in boats ; if more frequented it would of course be better, 

 but no traffic could make it a good road ; there is another road on the 

 eastern side of the river, which the Myotsa of May-nam-noi told our 



